Knitting machines



M. PHILIP KNITTING MACHINES Sept. 8, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 20, 1962 m I III-I: M

INVENTO}? mrrz's Zlzz'lgv BY W7 Q ATTORNEYS Sept. 8, 1964 M. PHILIP KNITTING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 20, 1962 INVENTOR 1 [Morris Plzz'lg'v W W Z M ATTORNEYS Sept. 8, 1964 M. PHILIP 3,147,605

KNITTING MACHINES Filed April 20, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Marrz's Pfiz'lg'p ATTORNEZS' p 8, 1964 M. PHILIP 3,147,605

KNITTING MACHINES Filed April 20, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 5 7.5. .FTyJAZ INVENTOR M01215 Hzz'ZzP ATTORNEYS P 8, 1954 M. PHILIP KNITTING MACHINES Filed April 20, 1962 ATTORNEYS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR United States PatentC) 3,147,605 KNITTING MACHDIES Morris Philip, 2519 Grand Ave., Bronx, NY. Filed Apr. 20, 1962, Ser. No. 189,125 13 Claims. (Cl. 66-455) This invention relates to knitting machines, elements thereof, and combinations of elements. More particularly, this invention relates to certain knitting machine features primarily concerned with controlling the knitting pattern and other operations of knitting machines.

One aspect of the present invention is directed to the mechanism for controlling the timing of the means for producing changes in the operation of a knitting machine at the desired time and in the desired sequence. In general, the operation of a circular, multifeed knitting machine is controlled by a plurality of pattern chains, or similar patterning mechanisms, having thereon links or pattern members of varying dimensions, said links being sensed by levers which, in turn, directly or indirectly, effect the necessary changes in the operation of the machine, such as varying the knitting cams, varying the yarns fed to the needles, varyin the tightness or length of stitches and/ or speed of operation of the machine during its cycle, etc. The cyclical movement of the pattern chains is, in turn, controlled by a counter chain. The prior art effects this control by utilizing a main drum on which there is mounted the pattern chains and one or more auxiliary drums which control the cycle of the main drum.

Because of the inherent structure of these prior-art machines, one of the auxiliary drums may accidentally be shifted out of its proper cycle, thereby throwing the main drum, and therefore the machine, out of their proper cycles. When this occurs, the operator of the machine must make the necessary changes to bring the mechanism into its proper cycle.

The present invention reduces these difiiculties of the prior-art mechanisms by providing means which automatically maintain the machine in its proper cycle or, at least, automatically bring the machine back to its cycle if, through accident, the cycle is disturbed.

Therefore, one aspect of the invention is directed to a circular, multifeed knitting machine having a plurality of rotatable knitting stations, means for rotating said knitting stations, rotatable counter means having pattern members thereon, control means rotatable with said counter means for controlling the operation of the machine, a counter fixedly rotatable with said knitting stations, and drive means for selectively stepwise rotating said counter means in timed relation to the rotation of said knitting stations, said drive means being responsive to said counter and to said pattern members.

According to this aspect of the invention, the counter is fixedly rotatable with said knitting stations, for example, by fastening the counter on the turntable which rotates the knitting stations, and the counter provides the means for maintaining the counter chain in cycle, as will be more readily apparent hereinafter.

More particularly, according to an illustrated, exemplary embodiment of the invention, the control means is constituted by a rotatable drum having endless pattern chains thereon and a ratchet wheel is secured to the drum, so that, when the ratchet wheel rotates the drum, the pattern chains will also rotate. One of the pattern chains constitutes a counter chain, and the other chains, one or more in number, constitute pattern-control chains. The counter chain controls the rotation of the drum and, therefore, the rotation of the pattern-control chains. The counter chain has thereon high and low links for controlling rotation of the counter chain, and the patterncontrol chains have thereon links of appropriate sizes amass E atented Sept, 8, 1964 to control the operation of the machine in the conventional manner.

A reciprocally mounted pawl is provided, saidpawl being reciprocated by the drive means of the machine in timed relation to the moving knitting stations, so that, during a single revolution of themachine, the pawl reciprocates once for each knitting station. If there are twenty knitting stations, the pawl reciprocates twenty times during each revolution of the machine, and, if there are more or less knitting stations, the pawl reciprocates a number of times corresponding to the number of knitting stations.. The pawl is positioned so that it can selectively engage a tooth of the ratchet Wheel to cause the ratchet wheel to turn one step each time the pawl engages a tooth. Lever means are provided for permitting the pawl to engage a tooth of the ratchet Wheel eachtime a high link of the counter chain is in the sensing position, but to prevent the pawl from engaging a tooth of the ratchet wheel when a low link is in the sensing position.

Once a low link of the counter chain is in the sensing position, the pawl will continue toreciprocate, but never engage the tooth of the ratchet wheel and, therefore, the drum would not further rotate. To cause the ratchet wheel and, therefore, the drum and counter chain to rotate at the appropriate time to thereby move the next link of the counter chain into the sensing position, a cam, i.e., the counter, is fixed to the turntable at a predetermined location for rotation therewith. Lever means are provided for permitting the pawl to engage the ratchet wheel when the cam reaches its proper point during its revolution, thereby causing rotation of the ratchet Wheel, the drum, and the counter chain. Since the cam is fixed to the turntable, the cam is always in cycle and, therefore, automatically causes movement of the counter chain at the proper time. 7

Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a system for automatically resetting a starwheel whose stepwise rotation also effects changes in the machine. For example, a stitch tightener may be provided at each knitting station for adjusting the draw of the needle to vary the length of the stitch, each step, or partial rotation, of the star wheel effecting a change in the stitch tightener, with the stitch tightener being returned to its starting position at a complete revolution of the 'star wheel.

Occasionally, the star wheel may be inadvertently rotated, so as to throw the star wheel out of its cycle. This aspect of the present invention provides means for automatically resetting the star wheel or insuring that the star wheel is properly reset.

According to this aspect of the present invention, there is provided a star wheel mounted for rotation about its axis, at least two circumferentially spaced lugs on said star wheel, one of said lugs having a first dimension and the other of said lugs having a second dimension, tripper means for selectively partially rotating said wheel, and means for causing relative movement between said star wheel and said tripper means, so that said star wheel repeatedly passes said tripper means with one of its lugs traversing the tripper means, said tripper means partially rotating said star wheel when said tripper means contacts a traversing lug during said movement, said tripper means having at least two positions, in one of said positions said tripper means contacting a traversing lug having said first or second dimension and in another position contacting only an interposed lug having said second dimension.

In an illustrated, exemplary embodiment of this aspect of the invention, the star wheel has a pluralityof radially extending lugs, one of said lugs being axially shorter than the other lugs. The tripper member may be actuated by a control mechanism like that described in connection with the first aspect of the invention and is movable between three positions. In one of said positions, the tripper member contacts any traversing lug; in the other of said positions, the tripper member contacts only a traversing lug having a greater dimension; and, in the third position, the tripper member does not contact any traversing lug.

When this mechanism is operated, each time the star wheel is to be partially rotated, the tripper member is moved into position where it contacts any traversing lug to cause the star wheel to rotate a step. When, during the cycle of the machine, the star wheel is to be reset to its starting position, the tripper member is moved to the position where it contacts only the axially longer lugs but not the axially shorter lug, and with the tripper member in this position, the machine is rotated, so that the star wheel passes the tripper member a number of times at least equal to one less than the number of lugs on the star wheel. As soon as the wheel is brought to the position where the shorter lug traverses the tripper member, the star wheel will no longer rotate and will remain set in this position. In this way, all the star wheels on the machine can be reset to their starting position.

A third aspect of the present invention is directed to a cam plate, or cam lever, which, during the rotation of the machine, contacts an element of a knitting station to cause a change at the knitting position. Such levers, or cam plates, have a camming surface at their forward extremity for contacting the element to be moved. The distance between the cam'ming surface and the element to be moved must normally be carefully adjusted, so that the camming surface will impart sufficient move ment to the movable element, but disengage from the movable element at the appropriate time. If this distance is not carefully adjusted, the cam plate either does not perform its function or is liable to breakage by abutting part of the machine which it cannot move.

According to this aspect of the present invention, this disadvantage is minimized by providing a cam construction comprising a supporting section, a cam section having a camming surface adjacent its forward end, and means resiliently securing said cam section to said supporting section for movement in a direction traverse to said camming surface. Preferably, stop means are provided for limiting rearward movement of said cam section.

According to an illustrated, exemplary embodiment of this aspect of the invention, there is provided a cam plate having opposed longitudinal edges, the forward portion of said plate defining a cam section having a camming surface near the forward extremity thereof and the rear portion of said plate defining a supporting section for supporting said cam section. The plate has a lateral cut-out therethrough intermediate said sections, with the cut-out extending inwardly from one of said longitudinal edges but terminating short of the other of said longitudinal edges to provide a relatively narrow, longitudinal portion on said plate defining a connecting strip. The connecting strip is resilient and pivotally connects the cam section to the supporting section.

The present invention is also directed to the combination of the above-described control means.

These and other aspects and objects of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a fragmentary top elevation of a circular knitting machine of the type wherein the needle banks are stationary and the knitting cams rotate;

FIG. 2 shows a fragmentary vertical elevation, partially in section, taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1. This figure shows the counter chain in the position causing the pawl to rotate the counter chain;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary vertical elevation corresponding to that of FIG. 2, but showing the counter chain in the position wherein the pawl 'does not cause rotation of the counter chain;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical elevation corresponding to FIG. 4, with the counter chain in the same position, but with the counter on the turntable causing rotation of the counter chain;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary vertical section of a portion of a knitting machine showing a star wheel and the lever means for rotating said wheel. In this figure, the tripper member is positioned so that the star wheel is not rotated;

FIG. 7 is a view corresponding to a portion of FIG. 6 and shows the tripper member moved to position where it will contact all the lugs of the star wheel, except one, to achieve resetting of the star wheel;

FIG. 8 is a view corresponding to FIG. 7 and shows the tripper member in position where it will contact any lug of the star wheel to effect partial rotation of the star wheel;

FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 are diagrammatical views illustrating how relative movement between the tripper member and the star wheel partially rotates the star wheel;

FIG. 12 is a front elevation of another embodiment of the star wheel. In this embodiment, one of the lugs of the star wheel is radially shorter than the other lugs;

FIG. 13 is a view of a third embodiment of a star wheel and shows the lugs on a front face thereof;

FIG. 14 is a plan view of one embodiment of a cam plate;

FIG. 15 is a plan view of a second embodiment of a cam plate;

FIG. 16 is a fragmentary side elevation taken along the line 1616 of FIG. 15 showing how the cam section is secured to the supporting section of the cam plate;

FIG. 17 is a fragmentary plan view of a third embodiment of a cam plate and shows the cam plate positioned over a portion of a knitting machine;

FIG. 18 is a fragmentary diagrammatical plan view of a portion of a knitting machine and the cam plate of FIG. 14 showing the resilient movement of the cam section during operation of the machine.

In the drawings, there is no figure which shows a circular knitting machine in its entirety. Such complete circular knitting machines are well known in the art and, therefore, in order to avoid undue complication in the drawings, there are only shown, in diagrammatic form, those portions of the machine with which the present invention is directly concerned.

As is well known, circular knitting machines comprise two general types. In one type of machine, namely, the cam-rotating type, needle bed or beds are stationary while the yarn-feeds and knitting cams rotate. In the other type of machine, namely, the needle-rotating type, the yarnfeeds and knitting cams are stationary while the needle bed or beds rotate. In each type of machine there is relative rotation between the needles and the knitting cams. Although the present invention is applicable to both types of machines, the invention will be particularly described in connection with the cam-rotating type of multifeed circular knitting machines.

It will be further appreciated that both types of machines may have only one needle bank, which is generally a cylinder bank, or may have two needle banks, namely, a cylinder bank and a dial bank. The instant invention is not directly concerned with the operation of the needles. Therefore, these have not been illustrated nor described. Furthermore, the dial bank and its associated cams and other parts have been omitted, the drawings merely diagrammatically showing a portion of the cylinder cam ring.

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 5, the machine comprises a stationary frame (not shown) which supports a stationstation.

trated employs twenty knitting stations, i.e., twenty krntary annulus 10, within which there is rotatably mounted the turntable 11. On the turntable 11, there is mounted, for movement therewith, the cylinder cam ring 12, which includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced-apart cylinder knitting cam sections, only two cam sections 13A and 133, being shown. It will be understood that each cam section has associated therewith a yarn-feed (not shown), so that each cam section is considered a knitting By way of example, a machine of the type illusting cams and their associated yarn-feeds. The machine is of the stationary needle, rotating-cam type, and the turntable is rotated in the direction of arrow 11A by the main machine drive (not shown). The needles (not shown) do not rotate.

A support 14 is secured to the stationary annulus by means of bolts 15', support 14 providing the support for the control mechanism. The pattern-control mechanism comprises a drum 16 fixedly mounted on shaft 17 for rotation therewith. Shaft 17 is rotatably journalled in support 14.

On shaft 17, between support 14 and drum 16, there is fixedly mounted a ratchet wheel 18 having a plurality of circumferentially spaced-apart ratchet teeth 19 around its periphery.

A pawl drive shaft 20 is rotatably supported by support 14, said shaft 20 being driven through gears in gear box 21, diagrammatically shown, which, in turn, are driven by the main machine drive (not shown) of the machine. A circular disc 22 is eccentrically mounted on pawl drive shaft 20. A pawl 23 is provided at its forward end with a pawl tooth 24 and, at its opposite end, with a large opening 25 for receiving disc 22, the plane of disc 22 lying substantially in the plane of pawl 23.

Disc 22 is fitted within opening 25, so that there will be some frictional engagement between the outer periphery of disc 22 and the inner wall of opening 25, the frictional engagement being sufficient to normally cause pawl 23 to rotate with disc 22, but not sufficiently to prevent relative rotation between disc 22 and pawl 23 if the rotation of pawl 23 is impeded. The gears in gear box 21 are so selected that pawl drive shaft 20 will rotate in the direction of arrow 26 once each time a different knitting cam section passes a given point on the machine. As shaft 20 rotates, disc 22 will rotate therewith in the same direction.

Pawl 23 is not free to rotate continuously with disc 22, as will be hereinafter described, and pawl 23 is, therefore, generally maintained in its angular position as shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5. Therefore, as disc 22 rotates, because of its eccentric mounting, disc 22 will cause reciprocation of pawl 23 in the direction of the double arrow 27. The pawl 23 makes one complete reciprocation, i.e., it is moved from right to left (as viewed in FIG. 2) and back to right, each time in knitting cam section passes a given point in the machine. In other words, for a twenty-feed machine, the pawl will reciprocate twenty times during one rotation of the turntable 11, the reciprocation of the pawl being in timed relation to the rotation of the turntable.

With the elements of the machine in the position shown in FIG. 2, reciprocation of the pawl 23 would permit its tooth 24 to contact one of the teeth 19 of the ratchet wheel 18 each time the pawl 23 reciprocates. Each reciprocation of the pawl would, therefore, rotate ratchet wheel 18 at an angular distance equal to the space between adjacent teeth 19 of the ratchet wheel 18.

According to one of the features of the invention, means are provided for selectively stepwise rotating the ratchet wheel in timed relation to the rotation of said turntable and, therefore, in timed relation to the rotation of the rotating knitting stations. Stated differently, means are provided to permit engagement between the pawl 23 and the ratchet wheel 18 at certain times during the rotation of the turntable and to prevent engagement at other times. If this means were not provided, and the pawl engaged the ratchet wheel each time the pawl reciprocated, the ratchet wheel would be stepwise, or partially, rotated twenty times during each revolution of the turntable in a twenty-feed machine.

This means will now be described. On support 14 there is mounted an outwardly extending shaft 28, and one end 33 of each of levers 29, 30, 31 and 32 is journalled about shaft 28. Each of levers 29 through 32 extends laterally beyond drum 16 and is superposed thereover, so that the free end of each lever is on the other side of the drum from end 33. Each of levers 29 through 32 is provided with a downwardly depending sensing stud 34, said stud being positioned over the drum 16.

Mounted around the periphery of the drum 16 are a plurality of endless pattern chains 35, 36, 37 and 38, one pattern chain being positioned under each lever, so that pattern chain 35 is mounted under its corresponding lever 29, pattern chain 36 is mounted under its corresponding lever 31), etc. The pattern chains are mounted about the drum in any conventional manner, the drum having circumferentially spaced-apart guides, or sprockets, 39 about its periphery, so that the chains rotate with the drum 16.-

T he structure of pattern chains is well known in the art and need not be described further herein, except to point out that each chain, for example, comprises a plurality of links of different heights, such as high link 40 and low link 41. Each time the drum 16 rotates an angular distance equal to the spacing between the teeth of the ratchet wheel 18, another link is positioned under the sensing stud 34 of the appropriate lever.

A pintle 42 extends outwardly from support 14, and a pawlacontrol lever 43 is pivotally mounted about said pintle 42, so that said lever 43 can pivot in a plane generally parallel to that of pawl 23. One end of a tension spring 44 is secured to end 45 of lever 43, with the other end 46 of spring 44 being secured to support 14. Lever 43 is generally L-shaped and has a horizontal branch 47 and an upwardly extending branch 48. Because of tension spring 44, the crook 49 of lever 43 and the upwardly extending branch 48 are normally biased upwardly.

The outwardly extending stud 59 is mounted on pawl 23 between its tooth 25 and the opening 25, said stud extending outwardly suificient to be superposed over branch 47 and adjacent the crook 49 of lever 43.

Lever 43 pivots in a generally vertical plane between an upper position, as shown in FIG. 4, and a lower position, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the spring 44 normally maintaining the lever 43 in the upper position, as shown in FIG. 4. When the lever 43 is in the lower position, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the pawl 23, during its reciprocation, will contact a tooth 19 of the ratchet wheel 18 to cause partial rotation thereof.

On the other hand, when lever 43 is in the upper position as shown in FIG. 4, the pawl 23 will not engage a tooth 19 of the ratchet wheel 18 as the pawl reciprocates. This is due to the fact that stud 50 of the pawl 23 rests on branch 47 of lever 43, so that, when branch 47 is raised, stud 50 will be raised, and the raising of stud 50 causes elevation of pawl 23 to the position shown in FIG. 4. This engagement between the stud 50 and branch 47 limits downward movement of the pawl 23. Therefore, when lever 43 is in the upper position, stud 50 and pawl 23 are also in the upper position, the latter having been raised sufiiciently so that the tooth 24 of the pawl 23 will not engage any teeth of the ratchet wheel 18.

On the stationary annulus 10 there is mounted a vertical bracket 51 (see FIGS. 1 and 3), and a horizontal lever 52 is pivotally mounted between its ends on bracket 51. One end of horizontal lever 52 is pivotally secured to the upper end of branch 43 of lever 43, and on the other end of lever 52 there is mounted a roller 53, said roller overlying the turntable 11. Roller 53 is vertically movable between an upper position, shown in solid lines in FIG. 3, and a lower position, shown in dotted lines in FIG. 3. Vertical movement of rollers 53 pivots lever 52 and, conversely, pivotal movement of lever 52 causes corresponding movement of roller 53. When lever 43 is in the upper position, roller 53 is in the lower position, and, when lever 43 is in the lower position, roller 53 is in the upper position. Normally, because of spring 44, lever 43 is in the upper position and roller 53 is in the lower position.

Means are provided for selectively raising roller 53 during rotation of the turntable 11. This means is constituted by a counter, or cam, 54, fixedly mounted on the turntable. Periodically, the rotation of the turntable will position cam 54 beneath roller 53 to elevate the roller. Elevation of the roller 53, in turn, causes lowering of the outward end of lever 52 which, in turn, causes lowering of branch 48 of lever 43. Therefore, when cam 54 passes under roller 53, lever 43 is brought to its lower position, thereby permitting pawl 23 to engage a tooth of ratchet wheel 18.

Lever 29, at its free end 55, is provided with an inwardly extending, horizontal portion 56, the extremity 57 of which is turned upwardly and is located immediately under the end 4-5 of lever 43. When a high link 4t is positioned under sensing stud 34 of lever 29, the free end 55 of lever 20 is elevated, causing the extremity 57 to contact and elevate end 45 of lever 43. This movement, in turn, lowers branch 47 of lever 43 to permit the pawl to engage a tooth of the ratchet wheel 18. This position of the elements is shown in FIG. 2. Although FIG. 2 also shows counter 54 under roller 53, a high link 4% in counter chain 35 will always position lever 29, lever 43, and pawl 23 as shown in FIG. 2 even when counter 54 is not under roller 53.

On the other hand, when a low link 41 is positioned under sensing stud 34, lever 29 is in the low position as shown in FIG. 4 and out of engagement with end 45 of lever 43, so that the action of spring 44 can move lever 43 to the upper position whereby the pawl 23 cannot engage a tooth of the ratchet wheel 18.

The purpose and operation or" the structure shown in FIGS. 1 through 5 will now be described. As is well known in the art, multifeed circular knitting machines of the type broadly described, as well as other knitting machines, frequently have their operations controlled by endless pattern chains. One of the pattern chains is called the counter chain, and, in the instant description, chain 35 is the counter chain. This chain controls the movement of the other chains, hereinafter called the patterncontrol chains. The number of pattern-control chains is a matter of choice, depending upon the complexity of the machine, as well as upon the complexity of the knitting operation. In the illustrated embodiment there are shown three pattern-control chains 36, 3'7 and 38, by way of example, although it will be appreciated that in actual practice there may be more or less pattern-control chains.

All of the chains are equipped with links of various heights, two or more heights in number. For the sake of simplicity, only two heights will be considered, namely, high links and low links. The links of each chain effect the movement of a lever associated with the chain in a manner similar to that described in connection with lever 29. The movement of the lever, in turn, effects the appropriate changes in the machine mechanism.

Pattern-control chains 36, 37 and 38 are all mounted on drum 16 and, therefore, all the pattern-control chains move together. Because chains 36, 37 and 38 move together, only the movement and control of chain 36 will be discussed. This discussion will be described in connection with a machine which has twenty knitting stations, i.e., twenty knitting cam sections, each section having associated therewith one yarn-feed. The pattern-control chain 36 will have thereon, for example, high links and low links in the appropriate order to produce the de sired knitting pattern, the high link corresponding to a first type of stitch and the low link corresponding to a second type of stitch.

As will be described hereinafter, there is mounted on a nonrotating part of the machine a knitting cam changing means, as exemplified by cam plate 83 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) for producing changes at the knitting stations as they successively pass the changing means, the changing means being controlled by the pattern-control chains.

The machine is timed so that sensing of a link by its sensing stud adjusts the changing means prior to the time a knitting station passes the changing means and so that the pawl, in its lower position, will rotate the ratchet wheel one step immediately after the knitting station passes the changing means to bring the next link into position under the sensing stud for adjustment of the changing means prior to the passage of the next knitting station.

As stated previously, when a high link in counter chain 35 is positioned under stud 34 of lever 29, the pawl 23 will engage the ratchet wheel 18 to rotate the ratchet wheel one step in the direction shown by arrow 18A. If there are twenty successive high links on counter chain 35, then each of twenty successive reciprocations of the pawl will rotate the ratchet wheel 18 one step, for a total oftwenty steps. Each time the ratchet wheel 18 turns one step, the drum 16 also turns one step. Therefore, each of twenty successive links of pattern-control chain 36 will successively move into the sensing position. under the sensing stud of lever 30 to cause movement of lever 35 in accordance with the height of each successive link.

If. it is desired to have twenty successive links on pattern-control chain 36 sensed by its sensing stud in one revolution of the turntable, counter chain 35 is provided with twenty successive high links. The position of the first of these high links is correlated to the first knitting station, that is, the position is such that it will be sensed before the first knitting station passes the changing means but after the last station has passed the changing means.

Therefore, since the machine has twenty knitting stations, the twenty successive high links on counter chain 35 will be successively sensed during one revolution of the turntable to cause the pattern-control chain to move twenty links during one revolution of the turntable. FIG. 2 shows the mechanism in the position of sensing the last high link 40 of the twenty successive highlinks on the counter chain. At this point, counter 54 is under the roller 53, since the counter is mounted on the turntable at a position correlated with the last knitting station to raise roller 53 and permit the pawl to engage the ratchet wheel after the last knitting station has passed the changing means.

Since the counter 54 is under the roller 53, the next reciprocation of the pawl will cause rotation of the counter chain. A high link, as shown in FIG. 2, also causes the pawl to engage the ratchet wheel, but at the last knitting station the counter always causes the pawl to engage the ratchet wheel, whether the link on the counter chain is a high link or a low link.

As the turntable continues its rotation past the point shown in FIG. 2, the last knitting station 13B passes cam plate 88 of the changing means and the pawl turns the ratchet wheel to move next link 41 into the sensing position prior to the passage of the first knitting station 13A past the changing means. This position is shown in FIG. 4, wherein the counter 54 has passed roller 53 and link 41 is under sensing stud 34.

Now, let us assume that no further changes are to be effected in the pattern mechanism for the next four revolutions of the turntable. The chain 35 is therefore provided with four successive low links 41, 70, 71 and 72 immediately following the high link 40.

Disregarding, for a moment, the presence of cam 54, it will be appreciated that, when low link 41 of counter chain 35 is positioned under sensing stud 34, pawl 23 would continue to reciprocate but never engage a tooth of ratchet wheel 18, while the turntable continues its rotation.. The whole control mechanism would be at a standstill. However, counter 54, rotatable with the turntable, prevents this cessation of operations when counter 54 passes under roller 53, in this case, after the turntable has completed one revolution. As soon as counter 54 passes under roller 53 so that the mechanism is in the position shown in FIG. 5, reciprocation of pawl 23 will cause the pawl to engage a tooth of the ratchet wheel 18 and turn the ratchet wheel one step to present under the sens- ,ing stud 34 the link following low link 41, which is low link 70 in the instant example. The turntable continues rotating, the pawl continues reciprocating, but the pawl cannot engage the ratchet wheel because low link 78 is under sensing stud 34 and, therefore, lever 43 is in the upper position. The ratchet wheel, the counter chain 35, and the pattern-control chain 36 remain stationary for another revolution of the turntable until the counter 54 again passes under roller 53. At this point, pawl 23 again causes the ratchet wheel torotate one step to position next low link 71 under sensing stud 34. The turntable makes another revolution, counter 54 again passes under roller 53, and next low link 72 is positioned under sensing stud 34. The turntable now makes a fourth revolution, and this time, when counter 54 passes under roller 53, high link 73, which follows low link 72, is positioned under sensing stud 34. This raises lever 29 and lowers lever 43, so that the pawl, in its reciprocation, will rotate the ratchet wheel. The operation of the machine continues as described above, depending upon the nature of the links following high link 73.

It will be appreciated that pattern-control chain 36 only rotates when counter chain 35 rotates and the selection of the links on pattern-control chain 36 controls the actual knitting pattern. When counter chain 35 is not rotating during a revolution of the turntable, patterncontrol chain 36 also is not rotating, and pattern-control chain 35 does not produce different changes in the knitting stations.

In the above description, cam 54 is fixed to the turntable, and, each time cam 54 passes under roller 53, the ratchet wheel 18 is turned a step. Referring to the portion of the cycle wherein the hereinbefore-mentioned twenty successive high links on counter chain 35 are successively passing through their sensing positions, assume that, inadvertently, the person operating the machine, or machine failure, causes ratchet wheel 18 to move two steps during one reciprocation of pawl 23; this error will cause the twentieth high link to effect a change at the nineteenth knitting station, rather than at the twentieth knitting station. This would destroy the pattern knit in this revolution of the machine. Nevertheless, counter 54, since it is fixed to, and therefore permanently in time with, the turntable, will automatically bring the machine back into cyclefor following revolutions.

In the prior art, this could not automatically be accomplished. Counter chains and pattern-control chains have been used in the prior art, and their function is well understood. However, in the prior art, the movement of the counter chain was controlled by one, or more, auxiliary drums which, in turn, were also moved through pawl and ratchet arrangements. In order to maintain the proper cycle of the machine, the auxiliary drums had to be carefully timed, with the main drum supporting the main pattern chains. Frequently, these drums would get out of timing, so that the machine would be thrown out of cycle and would stay out of cycle until corrected by the person operating the machine. According to the present invention, however, the cycle of the counter chain is controlled by means of cam 54, which is fixed to the turntable 11 and always moves with the turntable. Cam 54, therefore, cannot fall out of cycle.

It will be appreciated that, once a low link of counter chain 35 comes into the sensing position under sensing stud 34, the drum and the pattern-control chains mounted thereon, as well as the counter chain, cease rotation 10 nomatter where the turntable is positioned in its rotational cycle. The chains remain stationary until counter 54 passes under roller 53.

The manner in which the levers 38, 31 and 32 effect the changes in the operation of the machine has been diagrammatically illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a detailed description not being necessary because such structure is well known in the art. In FIG. 2, the means associated with lever 30 for changing knitting patterns has been shown in phantom. A vertical bracket is secured to support 14, and bracket 80 is provided with two horizontal guide rings 81 and 82, which vertically guide a rod 83, the lower end 84 of rod 83 resting upon the free end 85 of lever 30. A collar 86 is secured to rod 83 beneath guide ring 81, and a compression spring 87 is mounted between collar 86 and guide ring 81 to bias rod 83 downwardly toward end 85 of lever 30. At the upper end of rod 83, there is fixedly secured a cam lever, or cam plate, 88, having a camming surface 89.

The cylinder cam ring 12 includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced-apart knitting cam sections, only two sections, namely, sections 13A and 133 being diagrammatically shown. Cam section 13A constitutes the first knitting station, and cam section 13B constitutes the last knitting station.

Projecting outwardly from each knitting cam section are levers 91 and 92, lever 91 being positioned above lever 92. When lever 38 is in the low position, as when a low link of chain 36 is under the sensing stud of lever 38, cam plate 88 is at such a height that its camming surface 89 will engage lever 92 on the knitting cam section which passes camming surface 89 during the rotation of the turntable 11. When camming surface 89 engages lever 92, the latter will be urged inwardly to effect an actual change in the knitting cam.

When a high link in chain 36 is positioned under the sensing stud of lever 30, lever 36 will be elevated to in turn elevate rod 83 and cam plate 88 to an upper position, at which position the-camming surface 89 will be at the level of lever 91, so that lever 91 will be actuated when a knitting cam section passes the camming surface 89.

The manner in which levers 91 and 92 eflect changes in the cams in the knitting cam sections is well known. It is therefore not considered necessary to illustrate or discuss the internal structure of the cam sections. It is further not considered necessary, with one exception (chain 37 and lever 31), to discuss in detail the purpose or structure of any of the other pattern-control chains or the mechanisms which they operate, since these are also conventional in the art. It will be appreciated that, although the pattern chains have been described as being comprised of only high and low links, in many instances more than two sizes of links can be used. This is also conventional. In the illustrated, exemplary embodiment, pattern-control chain 36 produces a change in the knitting cams. Pattern-control chains can also be used to control the speed or rotation of the turntable, the severing or addition of yarn, stitch tighteners, etc. In the illustrated, exemplary embodiment, cam plate 88 does not rotate, while the knitting stations do rotate; and, when cam plate 88 is moved to a particular elevation, such as shown in FIG. 2, or cam plate 88 is at a level with lever 91, each knitting station passing thereby will have its lever 91 actuated by camming surface 89. If each pattern-control chain has twenty successive links of the same height and if each link is moved under the sensing stud each time'the pawl 23 reciprocates, the position of camming surface 89 will not change, and all the knitting stations will be acted on by camming surface 89 in a similar manner. The same efiect will be obtained if patterncontrol chain 36 is stationary during a complete revolution of the turntable. On the other hand, if, for example, cam plate 88 is to be moved to the upper position as one knitting station passes thereby and then to the 1 1 lower position as the next knitting station passes thereby, etc., the links of pattern-control chain 36 will alternately be high and low, and pattern-control chain 36 would have to rotate each time the pawl 23 reciprocates. This would require a succession of high links on the counter chain.

It is frequently desirable to effect changes only in some knitting stations and not in other knitting stations. For example, if changes are to be madeonly in the first five knitting stations and no changes are to be made in the remaining fifteen knitting stations, counter chain 35 would be provided with five successive high links, to take care of the changes in the first five knitting stations, followed by a low link. As soon as the fifth high link passes sensing stud 34, the low link will be positioned there under, and the counter chain and the pattern-control chain would cease rotation until fifteen additional knitting stations have passed by plate 88. At that time, since counter 54 is correlated to the last knitting station, as previously described, the counter 54 passes under roller 53 to cause the counter chain to move to the next link. The counter always causes the pawl to engage the ratchet wheel at the completion of a revolution.

Lever 31 and its affiliated mechanisms are concerned with another aspect of the present invention, and they will now be described in further detail. Frequently, the control mechanism, instead of pushing levers such as lever 91, causes rotation of a control element in the machine. Such a control element, which is actuated by rotation, may, for example, be a stitch tightener. A mechanism using a rotatable star wheel to produce changes in knitting cams is shown in United States Patent No. 2,743,595.

The present invention will be described in connection with a stitch tightener (see FIGS. 1, 2 and 6-13). Such stitch tighteners, diagrammatically shown at 100', are well known in the art and need not be described in detail, except to state that they are operated by rotating a shaft, such as shaft 101. On shaft 101, there is mounted, for rotation therewith, a star wheel 102, which is provided with a hub 120 having thereon a plurality of circumferentially spaced-apart radial arms or lugs 103, 104, 105 and 106.

The star wheel 102 is rotatable through four positions, each one spaced apart ninety degrees from the other. Each partial rotation, or step, of the star wheel pro duces a change in the knitting mechanism to change the distance that the needles are drawn back during the knitting operation, so as to produce a stitch of different degrees of tightness, one degree of tightness being represented by each angular position of the star wheel. A stitch tightener 100 and its corresponding star wheel is provided for each knitting cam section. Associated with lever 31 is a vertical rod 107, which is supported in substantially the same manner as is rod 83 and, therefore, need not be described further, except to state that rod 107 moves up and down in a vertical direction, as indicated by arrow 108 (FIG. 6), together with the upand-down movement of the free extremity of lever 31.

A bracket 109 pivotally supports bell crank lever 110 at its bend 111. Bell crank lever 110 has a horizontal arm 112 and a vertical arm 113, the free end 114 of horizontal arm 112 being pivotally secured to the upper end 115 of rod 107. The free end 116 of vertical arm 113 is pivotally secured to one end 117 of a horizontal rod or tripper member 118 slidably mounted in' bracket 119 secured to stationary annulus 10.

When lever 31 is moved upwardly, bell crank lever 110 rotates in the direction indicated by arrow 130 to move tripper 118'inwardly toward star wheel 102. In this embodiment of the invention, pattern-control chain 37 is provided with links of three heights (not shown), namely, low links, intermediate links, and high links. When a low link is being sensed by the sensing stud of patterncontrol chain 37, rod 107 is in its lowermost position and tripper 118 is in its outermost position away from the star wheel 102, as shown in FIG. 6. When an intermediate link on pattern-control chain 37 is being sensed, rod 107 is elevated to an intermediate position and tripper 118 is moved inwardly to an intermediate position, extending partly under the hub 120, as shown in FIG. 7. When a high link on pattern control chain 37 is being sensed, rod 107 is in its uppermost position and tripper 118 is in its innermost position, extending further under the hub 120, as shown in FIG. 8.

It will be appreciated that the tripper 118 does not rotate, but the knitting stations, and therefore the star wheels associated with each knitting station, revolve with the turntable 11, so that each star wheel repeatedly passes the tripper 118 as the turntable 11 rotates. As a star wheel passes the tripper, the star wheel has one of its lugs so positioned that it traverses the tripper and, if the tripper is in the position shown in FIG. 8, the lug which traverses the tripper will contact the tripper. Relative movement between the star wheel and the tripper causes the trigger to partially rotate the star wheel about its axis. This is illustrated in FIGS. 9, 10 and 11. In these figures, tripper 118 is stationary and extends under the star wheel, as shown in FIG. 8. The star wheel moves in the direction indicated by arrow 121, lug 106 of the star wheel being in position to traverse the tripper. FIG. 9 shows the tripper and lug 106 immediately before the lug 106 contacts tripper 118. As the star wheel continues its movement in the direction of arrow 121, lug 106 contacts tripper 118, and their relative movement causes the star wheel to partially rotate in the direction indicated by arrow 122, as shown in FIG. 10. The star Wheel continues moving in the direction indicated by arrow 121 until the star wheel has rotated ninety degrees, so that lug 106, as shown in FIG. 11, has been rotating ninety degrees from its starting position in FIG. 9, and lug 103 of the star wheel is now pointing downwardly, so that next time the star wheel passes tripper 118, lug 103 will traverse, and be contacted by, tripper 118 to cause further ninety-degree rotation. The star wheel may be provided with a clicker (not shown) to limit rotation to ninety degrees each time it is partially rotated by the tripper.

In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, the star wheel is provided with four lugs, but it will be appreciated that the star wheel can have any number of lugs in excess of one. The tripper rotates the star wheel through an angular distance equal to three hundred and sixty degrees divided by the number of lugs.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 2, 6, 7 and 8, it will be noted that lug 106 has a smaller dimension axially of the shaft 101 than the other lugs 103, 104 and 105. In other words, lug 106 is so dimensioned that its forwardmost surface 123 is positioned inwardly relative to the forwardmost surface 124 of the other lugs.

Referring to FIG. 7, it will be noted that, in the intermediate position, tripper 118 extends inwardly, so that the extremity 125 thereof is outwardly spaced away from the surface 123 of lug 106. Therefore, when tripper 118 is in the intermediate position and lug 106 traverses the tripper, the tripper will not contact lug 106 and star wheel 102 will not be rotated. However, in the intermediate position, the forward extremity 125 of tripper 118 extends inwardly sufficiently to contact lugs 103, 104 or when one of these lugs traverses the tripper. In its outermost position, the forward extremity of tripper 118 does not extend under the star wheel and, therefore, will not contact any lug of the star wheel when such lug traverses the tripper.

From the above description, it will be appreciated that, in one position, the outermost position, the tripper cannot cause rotation of the star wheel; in another position, the innermost position, the tripper will cause rotation of the star wheel no matter which lug traverses the tripper; and, in still another position, the intermediate position, the tripper will cause partial, or stepwise, rotation of the star wheel only when the lugs of greater dimension, such as 13 lugs 103, M94 and 105, traverse the tripper, but not when the lug 106, of lesser dimension, traverses the tripper. The provision of a lug of lesser dimension, such as lug 106, provides the means for automatically resetting the star wheel to a predetermined position.

During the operation of the machine at certain cycles, it is not necessary to rotate the star wheel and, at such times, the tripper is maintained in the outermost position by the proper selection of links on pattern-control chain 37. When it is desired to rotate the star wheel ninety degrees to produce a first change in the stitch tightener, a high link on pattern-control chain 37 causes movement of tripper 118 to the position shown in FIG. 8, so that tripper 113 will contact interposed lug 1%. A further partial rotation of the star wheel is effected by again providing a high link on pattern-control chain 37, so that tripper 118 will now contact traversing lug 103. This process is continued until the star wheel completes a revolution, at which time lug 106 would normally be the lowermost lug in position to start a new cycle.

Let us assume that the machine is being used to knit sweater bodies, with the stitch tightener going through four positions during the course of knitting the body. It is desired that the stitch tightener always be at its starting position at the start of each body. Through machine failure or improper manipulations by the machine operator, the star wheel may accidentally get out of cycle during the knitting of a particular sweater body. It is necessary to restore the star wheel to its cycle for the next sweater body. This is accomplished automatically by the utilization of the narrower lug MP6. At the completion of a sweater body and before the start of the next sweater body, the tripper is moved to its intermediate position, as shown in FIG. 7, by providing, at this point, a link of intermediate height on the pattern-control chain 37. The turntable is permitted to rotate three times, with the tripper in the intermediate position. If the star wheel, at the commencement of this operation, has lug 106 in the lowermost position, the tripper will not contact lug 196 as lug 106 traverses the tripper, and the star wheel will not rotate, since it is in the starting position. If, for example, the star wheel has inadvertently been turned out of cycle, so that one of the other lugs traverses the tripper, the tripper will rotate the star wheel ninety degrees each time one of the lugs of greater dimension traverses the tripper. At the end of three revolutions, the star wheel will, of necessity, be automatically brought back to its starting position.

This mechanism can also be used when there is provided a stitch tightener having four positions but only two, for example, are utilized during the process of knitting a sweater body. In this case, at the completion of a sweater body, the tripper is again moved to the intermediate position and maintained there for a sufiicient number of revolutions to bring back the star wheel to the starting position.

Instead of using a star wheel having a lug 1%, which is shorter in an axial dimension, there can be used a star wheel having other configurations for producing the same effect. For example, referring to FIG. 12, star wheel 102A may be provided with a lug 106A, which is shorter in a radial dimension than the remaining lugs. In this case, the tripper, instead of moving inwardly and outwardly in a direction generally parallel to the axis of shaft 101, would be moved in a direction generally transverse to the axis of shaft 191 by appropriate means (not shown) similar to that described for moving cam plate 88. The three vertical positions of tripper 118 are diagrammatically shown in FIG. 12, wherein 118A shows a position when the tripper contacts any traversing lug, 118B shows the tripper in the intermediate position contacting all the lugs but the short lug 166A, and 1180 shows the position wherein the tripper does not contact any traversing lug. The double-ended arrow 126 shows the direction of movement of the tripper.

It will be appreciated that the lugs on the star wheel, instead of projecting from the side of the wheel, may be mounted on the face of the star wheel, as shown in FIG. 13. In this figure, star Wheel 1023 has a face 127 having thereon radial lugs 1033, 1043 and 1058 and narrow lug 106B, said star wheel functioning precisely in the same manner as star wheel 102.

Although the star wheel has been described particularly in connection with a knitting machine, it will be apparent that this wheel and its associated indexing mechanism may be used on other machines where changes are effected by stepwise rotation of a shaft.

It will be appreciated that more than one tripper (not shown) can be used, so that changes can be effected each time the star wheel passes a different tripper or the same tripper. In either case, the present invention comprehends causing relative movement between a star wheel and tripper means, said tripper means comprising one or more tripper members, so that said star wheel repeatedly passes said tripper means, either by successively passing different tripper members or by passing a single tripper member a plurality of times. If, for example, three separate tripper members (not shown) are provided, the star wheel can pass all three in one revolution of the machine to either reset the wheel or to index the wheel.

Although, in the illustrated exemplary embodiment, the star wheel has four lugs, it is apparent that any number in excess of one can be used. No matter how many lugs are on the star wheel, the wheel can always positively be reset to its starting position by moving the wheel past a tripper, or trippers, a number of times once less than the number of lugs to bring the resetting lug, or shorter lug, to its starting position.

Under some circumstances, when it is reasonably certain that the wheel is not out of cycle three steps, less than three passes of the star wheel and tripper may be used for resetting, with reasonable probability of achieving proper resetting.

Referring specifically to FIGS. 14 through 18, the cam plate 88 comprises a forward portion defining a cam section 2% and a rear portion defining a supporting section 201. The cam section 260 has an inclined camming surface ZtlZ at its forward extremity, said surface effectuating the movement of levers or slides such as 91 and 92,

previously described. The supporting section is provided at the rear thereof with a rectangular hole 2&3 therethrough for mounting cam plate 88 near the top of rod 83 by means of a bolt (see FIG. 2).

The cam section is secured to the supporting section by a resilient connecting strip 204 integral with the cam section and the supporting section. The cam plate 88 has a lateral cut-out 205 intermediate the cam section and the supporting section, said cut-out extending laterally from one longitudinal edge 2% of the cam plate 88 toward the other longitudinal edge 207, but terminating short thereof, to provide a relatively narrow longitudinal portion on the cam plate which defines said connecting strip 294. The cam section, the supporting section, and the connecting strip all lie in the same plane. Cam plate 88 may be made from a single piece of flat metal stock, with connecting strip 204 being spring tempered to provide its resiliency.

Except for the connecting strip 204, the forward edge 208 is always spaced apart from the rear edge 209 of the cam section, so that a force acting on camming surface 202 will tend to urge the cam section rearwardly in the direction of arrow2lltl against the resilient action of connecting strip 204, which resiliently biases the cam section forwardly. Preferably, to. provide means for limiting rearward movement of the cam section, a stop means is provided and, in the form illustrated in FIG. 14, the stop means is provided by forming the forward edge 208 of the supporting member with the forwardly extending projection 211, which projects in the area of the cut-out toward the rear edge 209 of the cam section. This projection 15 211 is formed by forming cut-out N in a generally triangular shape, the cut-out increasing longitudinally as the cut-out extends laterally from edge 2%. In the illustrated embodiment, the projection 211 extends into the area of the cut-out near longitudinal edge 2%. It is apparent that the projection can be positioned at some other location (not shown) in the area of the cut-out.

Referring to FIG. 18, lever or slide M is shown in the position where it contacts the camming surface 202 as turntable 11 rotates in the direction of arrow 11A. This position of slide 91 and cam section 2% is shown in solid lines. As the turntable continues its rotation, camming surface 292 moves slide 91 inwardly, and the cam section moves rearwardly a small distance against the resilient action of connecting strip 204. The positions of cam section 200 and slide 91 at this point are shown by the dotted lines in FIG. 18. In normal operation, the connecting strip 204 is sufficiently strong to permit camming surface 202 to urge slide 91w its inward position without the cam section being moved rearwardiy to its maximum extent. If cam plate 88, when mounted on the machine, is positioned a little further inwardly than necessary, the resiliency of connecting strip 2-34 will permit the cam section 2% to be moved rearwardly a little further during its camming operation.

It will be appreciated that, if cam plate 83 were made of a single solid piece of steel, without cut-out 2%, as has been done in the prior art, a maladjustment in the spacing of camming surface 262 relative to slide 91 would not permit the cam section to move rearwardly. Under these circumstances, either the slide 91 or the cam plate would be severely damaged or broken. This occasionally actually occurs in the prior art. It is apparent that the prior-art construction required very careful adjustment of the spacing between the cam plate and slide 91. Because of the freedom of movement of cam section 206 relative to the supporting section 201, the cam plate 83 of the present invention need not be as accurately positioned as does the prior-art cam plate.

In FIG. 14, the connecting strip 204 integral with the sections of the cam plate provides the means for pivotally interconnecting these sections, as well as means for resiliently urging the cam section forwardly. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 15, the resilient means and pivoting means are separate. In this embodiment, cam section 200A and supporting section 201A have generally the same shape as the corresponding portion of the plate 88 shown in FIG. 14. However, cam section ZtlttA is not integral with supporting section 261A. Supporting section 201A is provided near longitudinal edge 207A with forwardly extending spaced-apart opposed lugs. 212 for receiving therebetween a rearwardly extending lug 213 on the corresponding edge of cam section 200A. A pintle 214 passes through lugs 212 and 213 to pivotally secure cam section 266A and supporting section 201A to each other. To the lateral extremity of lug 212 is fastened a transverse bar 215, which limits the movement of cam section 200A away from the forward edge 208A of the supporting section.

To resiliently urge cam section 200A in a forward direction, a compression spring 216 is interposed between the forward edge 208A of the supporting section and the rear edge 2139A of the cam section. The compression spring 216 lies in the area of the cut-out 2125A, which is provided by spacing apart the forward edge 208A of the supporting section from the rear edge of cam section 200A. Projection 211A, which is defined by the forwardmost lateral extremity of the supporting section 201A, provides a stop means for limiting rearward movement of the cam section 200A.

The modification of FIG. 15 functions in the same manner as does the structure shown in FIG. 14.

FIG. 17 shows an embodiment similar to that of FIG. 14, except that the supporting section is narrower than that shown in FIG. 14. In this embodiment, the supporting section comprises a narrow strip 217 integral with cam section 200B, the connecting strip or portion 2048 being the forward portion of supporting section 217. In this embodiment, there is no cut-out, as such, since there is no portion of the supporting section behind the rear edge 209B of the cam section. To provide stop means for limiting rearward movement of the cam section 20013, a vertical rod 218 is mounted in the stationary annulus 10 of the machine, said rod extending upwardly to the plane of cam section 200B in such a position that exterior surface of rod 218 is normally spaced rearwardly of the rear edge 209B of the cam section.

The cam plate 88 may, for example, be a steel plate two to ten inches long, one to three inches wide, and about one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch thick. The space or clearance between projection 211 and the rear edge 269 of the cam section 204 may be between about one-sixteenth and three thirty-seconds of an inch. It will be appreciated that, by using such relatively heavy steel stock, the connecting strip 204 will not easily yield and therefore urge the camming surface 202 forwardly with sufiicient force to produce the proper carnrning action on a lever such as lever 91.

In the discussion of counter chain 35, high link 40 caused the pawl to engage a tooth of the ratchet wheel, while low link 41 prevented such engagement. It will be apparent that the levers could be so modified that a low link would cause the pawl to engage the ratchet wheel and a high link would prevent engagement. For example, this can be accomplished by pivoting (not shown) lever 29 between sensing stud 34 and the free end 55 of lever 29.

The present invention has been described in this connection with a rotating cam type of multifeed cylinder machine, but it is apparent that the invention is equally applicable to a rotating-needle, stationary cam type of multifeed circular knitting machine. In the rotating needle type of machine, the needle beds are mounted on a structure which may be considered a turntable. The knitting stations may also be considered as rotatable. The pawl 23 reciprocates once each time a particular predetermined location on the rotating needle banks passes each knitting cam.

Counter 54 has been described as being fixed to the turntable. It is apparent that counter 54 may be fixed to any other part of the machine (not shown) which rotates with the turntable, e.g., the yarn carrier, whether such part is directly carried by the turntable or merely rotating therewith. A significant aspect of the invention is that the counter 54 rotates with the knitting stations. In the language of the knitter, it may be said that counter 54 rotates with the machine.

Counter 54 has been illustrated as being fixed to the turntable in a position correlated with the last knitting station. It may therefore be said that counter 54 is ad jacent the last knitting station, adjacent being used in a sense of timing, rather than actual physical location. Of course, it is apparent that the machine may be so constructed that counter 54 will be physically close by the last knitting station, as well as adjacent thereto. Optionally, it may be positioned adjacent any other station, were it so desired, for particular purposes, and there may also optionally be more than one counter (not shown) when it is desired to have the counter chain always rotate more than one step during a revolution of the machine.

According to a preferred aspect of the invention, counter 54 is adjacent the last knitting station so that each time chain is to prevent the pattern-control chains from being unduly long. There is no reason to have the patterncontrol chains rotate continuously when the machine goes through a cycle wherein the pattern-control chains need not produce any changes.

The present invention has been illustrated in this connection with a drum having thereon a plurality of individual pattern-control chains. Other equivalent structures well known in the art for this purpose can be used.

Vertical branch 48 of lever 43 comprises two sections, a lower section 48A and an upper section 48B, linked to gether at 48C by providing a generally horizontal slot at the upper end of lower section 48A, through which passes a pin fixed to the lower end of upper section 483. This linkage permits lower section 48A to move angularly with crook 49 while the upper section 48B does not move angularly. However, this linkage is such that vertical movement of one section will cause corresponding vertical movement of the other section.

Referring to the movement of the star wheel relative to the tripper, it will be apparent that the star wheel may move while the tripper is stationary, as illustrated, or the star wheel may remain stationary while the tripper rotates (not shown).

It is apparent that this invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein, and the description is to be interpreted in an illustrative, and not in a limiting, sense.

I claim:

1. In a multifeed circular knitting machine, a plurality of rotatable knitting stations, means for rotating said knitting stations, rotatable counter means having pattern members thereon, control means rotatable with said counter means for controlling the operation of said machine, a counter fixedly rotatable with said knitting stations, and drive means for selectively stepwise rotating said counter means in timed relation to the rotation of said knitting stations, said drive means being responsive to said counter and to said pattern members.

2. A circular knitting machine according to claim 1, wherein said counter is fixed to said means for rotating said knitting stations.

3. In a multifeed circular knitting machine, a plurality of rotatable knitting stations, means for rotating said knitting stations, a rotatably mounted ratchet wheel, counter means rotating with said ratchet wheel and having pattern members thereon, control means rotatable with said counter means for controlling the operation of said machine, a counter fixedly rotatable with said knitting stations, said ratchet wheel having thereon a plurality of circumferentially spaced-apart ratchet teeth, a pawl mounted for reciprocation, said pawl stepwise rotating said ratchet wheel each time said pawl engages one of said teeth, means for reciprocating said pawl in timed relation to the rotation of said knitting stations, sensing means responsive to said counter and to said pattern members, and selection means responsive to said sensing means for selectively causing said pawl to engage one of said teeth during the reciprocation of said pawl.

4. In a multifeed circular knitting machine, a plurality of rotatable knitting stations, means for rotating said knitting stations, a rotatably mounted ratchet wheel, counter means rotating with said ratchet wheel and having pattern members thereon, control means rotatable with said means for controlling the operation of said machine, a counter fixedly rotatable with said knitting stations, said ratchet Wheel having thereon a plurality of circumferentially spaced-apart ratchet teeth, a pawl mounted for reciprocation, said pawl stepwise rotating said ratchet wheel each time said pawl engages one of said teeth, means for reciprocating said pawl in timed relation to the rotation of said knitting stations, means for sensing said pattern members and to selectively cause said pawl to engage said teeth during the reciprocation of said pawl, and means for sensing said counter and to cause said pawl to engage one of said teeth during the reciprocation of said pawl each time said means senses said counter.

5. A multifeed circular knitting machine according to claim 4, wherein said means for sensing said counter comprises lever means engageable by said counter, said engagement moving said lever means to cause said pawl to engage one of said teeth.

6. In a multifeed circular knitting machine, a plurality of rotatable knitting stations, means for rotating said knitting stations, a rotatably mounted ratchet wheel, counter means rotating with said ratchet wheel and hav ing pattern members thereon, control means rotatable with said means for controlling the operation of said machine, a counter fixedly rotatable with said knitting stations, said ratchet wheel having thereon a plurality of circumferentially spaced-apart ratchet teeth, a pawl mounted for reciprocation, said pawl stepwise rotating said ratchet wheel each time said pawl engages one of said teeth, means for reciprocating said pawl in timed relation to the rotation of said knitting stations, means for sensing said pattern members and to selectively cause said pawl to engage said teeth during the reciprocation of said pawl, lever means for moving said pawl between a first position and a second position, in one of said positions said pawl engaging said teeth and in another of said positions said pawl not engaging said teeth, said lever means engaging said counter when said counter passes a predetermined point in its rotation to move said pawl, for one reciprocation, to the position wherein said pawl engages said ratchet wheel.

7. A multifeed circular knitting machine according to claim 6, wherein said lever means comprises a generally L-shaped lever swingable between a first position and a second position, said pawl having means thereon engageable by said lever and movable therewith to move said pawl between its two positions.

8. A multifeed circular knitting machine according to claim 7, wherein said lever means includes another lever pivotally mounted to said L-shaped lever, said other lever causing movement of said L-shaped lever when said counter passes a predetermined point in its rotation.

9. A multifeed circular knitting machine according to claim 8, wherein said other lever is pivotally mounted, one end thereof being pivotally connected to said L-shaped lever, the other end thereof overlying the path of said counter, so that said counter pivots said other lever only when said counter passes said other lever.

10. A multifeed circular knitting machine according to claim 9, wherein there is provided a third lever, said third lever having means thereon for sensing said pattern members to cause said third lever to move selectively according to said pattern members, movement of said third lever causing movement of said L-shaped lever between said first position and said second position.

11. A multifeed circular knitting machine according to claim 9, wherein said L-shaped lever is positioned in a plane generally parallel to said pawl and is swingable in said plane, said L-shaped lever having a generally horizontal branch and a generally vertical branch, said other lever being pivotally connected to the generally vertical branch of the L-shaped lever, said means on said pawl engageable by said L-shaped lever comprising an outwardly extending stud thereon overlying said generally horizontal branch and movable therewith.

12. A multifeed circular knitting machine according to claim 11, wherein said control means comprises a rotatable drum having thereon a plurality of pattern-control chains, said counter means are constituted by a pattern chain on said drum, said pattern chain having links thereon constituting said pattern members, and said ratchet wheel is secured to said drum for rotation therewith.

13. In a multifeed circular knitting machine, a plurality of rotatable knitting stations, means for rotating said 19 knitting stations, rotatable counter means having pattern members thereon, control means rotatable with said counter means for controlling the operation of said machine, a counter fixedly rotatable with said knitting stations, drive means for selectively stepwise rotating said counter means in timed relation to the rotation of said knitting stations, said drive means being responsive to said counter and to said pattern members; a star wheel mounted for rotation about its axis adjacent each knitting station for effecting, changes in said knitting stations, a plurality of circumferentially spaced-apart lugs on said star wheel, one of said lugs having a relatively small dimension and the other lugs having a greater dimension than said one lug, a tripper member for selectively rotating said star wheel, said means for rotating said knitting stations moving said star wheel, so that said star wheel repeatedly passes said tripper member with one of its lugs traversing the tripper member, said tripper member partially rotating said star wheel when said tripper member contacts a traversing lug during said movement, said tripper member being movable between three positions, the movement of said tripper member being controlled by said control means, in one of said positions said tripper member contacting any traversing lug, in another of its positions said tripper member contacting any traversing lug having said greater dimension, and in the third position said tripper member not contacting any traversing lug; a cam plate having opposed longitudinal edges, the forward position of said plate defining a cam section having a camming surface near the forward extremity thereof andthe rear portion of said plate defining a supporting section for supporting said cam section, said plate having therethrough a lateral cut-out intermediate said sections, said cut-out extending inwardly from one of said longitudinal edges toward, but terminating short of, the other of said longitudinal edges to provide a relatively narrow longitudinal portion on said plate defining a connecting strip connecting said cam section to said supporting section for pivotal movement toward and away from said supporting section, said connecting strip being resilient and resiliently biasing said cam section forwardly, the position of said cam plate being controlled by said control means, said cam plate effecting changes in the knitting stations.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,172,090 Wildman et al. Feb. 15, 1916 1,194,584 Wildman et al. Aug. 15, 1916 1,203,087 Wildman et al. Oct. 31, 1916 1,942,322 Beavers Jan. 2, 1934 2,135,185 Lawson et al. Nov. 1, 1938 3,004,449 Feroleto Oct. 17, 1961 3,048,053 Howe Aug. 7, 1962 

1. IN A MULTIFEED CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE, A PLURALITY OF ROTATABLE KNITTING STATIONS, MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID KNITTING STATIONS, ROTATABLE COUNTER MEANS HAVING PATTERN MEMBERS THEREON, CONTROL MEANS ROTATABLE WITH SAID COUNTER MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE OPERATION OF SAID MACHINE, A COUNTER FIXEDLY ROTATABLE WITH SAID KNITTING STATIONS, AND DRIVE MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY STEPWISE ROTATING SAID COUNTER MEANS IN TIMED RELATION TO THE ROTATION OF SAID KNITTING STATIONS, SAID DRIVE MEANS BEING RESPONSIVE TO SAID COUNTER AND TO SAID PATTERN MEMBERS. 